Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-08-06
You. Good. .
Rather" said that gentleman.


scents danger | am always dreaming OF
kuEuanalaud AMI gasool aud King solomon
mines. I assure you have become the victim
If an almost unaccuuntahle craving. lam sick
Of shooting rheaSants and partridges, and
want 10 have SO at some large game again.
Their. you know the fcehn--whcn one has
once taSterl brandy and water. milk becomes
nNipid TO the palate. That year We spent
together up in kukuauaIand seems 10 me
worth all the other wears of my life put
together | dare say that am a fool for my
pains, but can't help it; | long To go, and,
what l. more, mean t. GO
ALI" said, Il thought you would come
Ia that sooner ur later And now. Good,
what is your reason for wanting to trek
have You got one
Il have" said coed, solemny Il never
10 anything without a reason; and it isn't a
lady-&t least, If 1t Is, its several"
| looked at him again; Good is 50 over
powerinSly frivolous What Is i'll" | saii.
We'll. If you really want 10 know, though
I'D rather not speak of IA deiicate and strictly
personal matter, III tell you; I'm getting too
tat"
Shut up. Good" said Sir Henry, And
now, Quaterlmain, tell Us, where do you pro
pose going toE
lit my pipe, which mad gone out. before
answering
Have YOU people ever heard Of Mt.
! kenia:" asked.
Done know the place" said Good
Did you ever hear Of the island of Lamu y
| asked again.
No. stop, though-isnt it place about
600 miles north of LanzibIr!'
Yes. Now listen. What | have to pro
pose Is this: That We yo to I.amu and theme.
make our way about 80 miles inland to Mt
kenia: from Mt kenia on inland TO Mt. lie
kakIsera, another 10 miles, or thereabouts,
! beyond which no white man has, to the best
| of my belief. ever been: and then, if we get
SO far. right on into the unknown interior.
What do You say to that, my hearties,'
1T is big order, said Sir Henry reflect
| lively.
You are right" answered, 1t is: bu:
take il that We are all three OF us in search Of
, big order. We want IA change of scene, and
We are likely to get one-a thorough change
| All my life have longed TO visit those parts,
and mean to do it before | die. Ny poor
| BOYS death has broken the last link between
ME and civilization. and I'm off to my native
willis And now Ill tell YOU another thing,
ami that Is, that for Years and Years | have
heard rumorS of great white race which Is
supposed To have its home somewhere up in this
direction. and have mind to see If there is
any truth in them II You fellows like TO
come. well and good; if not, l II go alone"
| I'm your man, though don't believe in
Your white race" said Sir Henry Curtis,
rising and placing his arm upon my shoulder
Ditto" remarked Good; III go into train
ing at once. BY all means let's &C 10 Mt
kenia and the other place with an unpru.
nounceable name, and look for a white race
that does not exist. Its all one TO me"
when do you propose TO start" asked Sir
Henry.
This day month";" | answered, by the
British India steamboat; and don't You lie so
certain that things don't exist because you do
not happen to have heard of them Remem-
Der King Solomon's mines"
Some fourteen weeks or 50 had passed since
the date Of this conversation. and this his
tory goes on its way in very different sur
roundings
After much deliberation and inquiry we
came 10 the conclusion that our best starting
point for Mount kenia would lie from the
neighborhood Of the mouth of the Tana river,
and not from MombaSa, n place over 100
miles nearer Zanzibar. This conclusion we
arrived at from information given TO us by a
German trader whom we met upon the
steamer at Alden. l think that he was the
dirtieSt German | ever knew; but he was a
good fellow, and gave us a great deal of val
uable information. "Iamu" said he You
goes to Lanu-oh, ze beautiful place" and
lie turned up his fat face and beamed with
mild rapture. "One year and half | live
there and never change my shirt-never at
all"
And so IL came tu pass that OH arriving at
the island We discmbarked with all our goods
and chattels, and not knowing where to CO.
marched boldly up 10 the house of her
majesty'S consul. where we We're most hos
Iitably received
We'll, where are you gentlemen steering
for!" asked our friend, the hospitable consul,
as we smoked our pipes after dinner
we PROPOSE to go to Mt kenia, and then
on 10 Mt Lekakisera," answered Sir Henry
"Quatermain has got hold OF some yarn about
there being white race up in the unknown
territories beyond
The consul looke'l interested, and answered
that he had beard something Of that too
What have You heard!7 | asked
"Oh. not much. All know about it is that
a year or SO ago I got a letter from Macken-
zie, the Scotch missionary, whose station.
The Highlands is placed at the highest nav
igable point of the Tana river, in which he
said something about it"
"Itave You the letter. asked
80, destroyed it: but l remember that
he said tIat man had arrived at his station
who declared that two months journey be
yond Mt Lekakisera, which no white man
has yet visited-at least, so far us l know-he
found lake called Laga, and that then he
went off 10 the northeast, months journey,
over desert and thorn veldt and great
mountains, till he came to a country where
the people are W hitc and live i'll stone houses.
Here he was Hospitality enter aimed for n
while, till AT last the priests OF the country
set 1t about that lie was :. devil, and the peo-
pie drove him away, and he journeyed for
eight months and reached Mack-rzies place,
Ifs heard, dying. That all 1 know: and if
you ask me, believe that it is a lie: but if
YOU want to find out more about it YOU had
letter 60 up the Tana 10 Mackenzies place,
and ask him for information"
Sir Henry and 1 looked at each other
Here ~as something tangible.
Il think that We will go TO Mr. Macken-
Zie's," | said
We'll answered the consul, that is your
hest way; but ! warn YOU that YOU are likely
to fAve . rnuGh journey, for | hear that the
Nj .ai are about. and, as you know. they are
not pleasant customers. Your best plan will
be to cloose a few picked men for personal
servants and hunters, and 10 hire bearers
from village to village, 1t will give YOU an
inlinity Of trouble, but perhaps on the whole
1t will prove n cheaper and more advantage
Gus course than engaging a caravan, and you
will lie less liable to deSeTtion'
Fortunately there were at I.amu at this
time party of Wakwaf ASkari tsoliiers).
The Nakwaf. who are II cross between the
Nasal and the Wataveta are IA fine manly
,n,ny # la.